Hunting in South Africa
Twenty thousand acres of Limpopo bushveld with no internal fences and the lodge on the property itself. You hunt from where you sleep.
Season
March – October
Safari length
5 – 10 days
Property
20,000 acres, Limpopo
Internal fences
None
Our South African hunting takes place on a single leased concession of roughly 20,000 acres in Limpopo — we do not own this ground, we hold the hunting rights to it, the same as we do in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It is high-fenced around the perimeter, as almost all South African hunting ground is, but there is not a single internal fence or camp anywhere inside it. That distinction matters more than most outfitters admit.
Most South African operations divide their ground into smaller camps, each holding particular species, and move clients between them. Animals in that system live within a few hundred hectares. On ours they range across the entire property, and a kudu you find in the north on Tuesday may be eight kilometres south by Thursday. You hunt them by finding them, not by being driven to where they are kept.
The lodge sits on the property itself. There is no daily drive out and no transfer time eating into your hunting day — you step out of your room and you are already on the ground you are hunting.
The ground
Limpopo bushveld: mixed thornveld and mopane, broken by drainage lines and riverine strips, with enough variation in cover and open ground to hold a genuinely wide species list.
Twenty thousand unbroken acres means real hunting. Animals have space to move, wind matters, and there is no fence three hundred metres ahead to stop a stalk from going wrong.
The southern winter — May through August — is the strongest window. The bush thins out, the grass dies back, and animals move earlier and later in the day. Mornings can be genuinely cold, which catches out visitors expecting African heat.
Cape buffalo and the full plains game list
This is where our species list is widest. Kudu, nyala, gemsbok, blue wildebeest, impala, warthog and more than a dozen others, and Cape buffalo on the same property. South African buffalo are priced considerably below the Zambezi Delta hunt in Mozambique, which makes this the accessible route to a first buffalo. A typical seven-day safari takes four to six animals.
The lodge
A permanent lodge on the property with en-suite rooms, mains power, hot water and good food. Because you are not transferring anywhere each morning the days are less tiring, and there is time to sit properly over breakfast. South Africa is also the easiest of our destinations to bring a non-hunting partner to.
Practical notes
- Season
- March to October is the normal season. We can push to late February and run through to late October if that is what your diary allows — ask us and we will tell you honestly how it affects the hunting.
- Getting there
- International flights into Johannesburg (O.R. Tambo). We meet you at the airport and the road transfer to the property is a comfortable few hours. No charter flights needed.
- Firearm import
- South Africa requires a SAPS 520 temporary import permit, which we pre-lodge for you. We can also arrange a meet-and-assist agent at Johannesburg. Rental rifles are available if you would rather not travel with your own.
- Free range or managed?
- The property is high-fenced on the perimeter and has no internal fencing at all. Animals are free-ranging across the full 20,000 acres and are not moved or released ahead of clients. We describe the ground plainly rather than leaving you to guess.
- Non-hunting partners
- Easily accommodated. The lodge is comfortable, there is no daily transfer, and photographic game drives can be arranged on the property itself.
Talk to us about a South Africa hunt
Tell us roughly when you can travel and what you want to take. We will come back with what is genuinely available in South Africa and whether another country might suit you better.
South Africa safaris run 5 – 10 days.
Enquire — South Africa